As transistors get cheaper it is becoming easier to include multiple CPU cores on a single chip. This is even applicable to consumer electronics (CE) devices that attempt to integrate most or all system functionality onto a single chip. In CE devices, the cost of adding additional cores to a chip is often cheaper than the cost of software development to code the additional functionality given by the additional cores on a single chip. As a result, complicated media formats that have a software “stack,” i.e., an integrated running system available for single operating system (OS), or few high-quality stacks available for a single operating system, may force the choices of operating systems onto a CE manufacturer—the CE manufacturer, in essence, must use the operating system associated with the media format.
For example, as of early 2007, the only credible navigation engines for the new HD DVD format for CE devices have been available from Microsoft on Windows CE, and the only credible navigation engines for the Blu Ray format for CE devices are available for the Linux operating system.